Pre-Production: How To Write a Treatment

One of the first steps in pre-production is the writing of a
treatment. A treatment is a loose term that is thrown around in the
industry. It's basically a summery of the work that is going to be shot.
Now, there are two kinds of treatments: there is a writer's treatment
and a director's treatment.

Writer's Treatment

There are two basic forms of the writer's treatment. There is one for
television and one for feature films. Both are a summery of the work
that is going to be shot.

Writing a Writer's Treatment

Think of the treatment as a presentation. Executives are very busy
people whose time is limited. They don't want to read a 120 page
screenplay because that's at least two hours of their time. But, they
are willing to read a 5 to 10 page treatment about the movie you plan to
write for them (or maybe already have written). It's a sales tool. If
they're excited by the few pages of your treatment, then they'll be
willing to read the entire screenplay. If they're not excited, then
they'll figure the script is not worth reading.

What Is Included in a Writer's Treatment

A feature film treatment is a summery of the story. A treatment for a
television series would be a detailed summery of the pilot introducing
the characters and series, and then it might be followed by brief
summaries for future episodes. There really is not a standard form to
writing a writer's treatment. You just need to make it interesting
because it's a sales tool for your idea.

Writing a Director's Treatment

Directing is a competitive field, and one of the big factors that
determines if you're going to be working, is writing a treatment about
how you plan to shoot the material you're bidding for. Wither it's a
feature film, TV pilot, commercial or music video, the process is very
similar. Whoever is paying for the work to be produced goes through a
ton of directors reels and picks out the best five to ten that they
like.

What Is Included in a Director's Treatment

These directors then have to write a treatment about how they plan to
shoot the material. The director is the central decision maker in a
production and his treatment covers what he plans to do. It goes into
detail of the look they're going for, how they hope the sound design to
play out, what kind of music they wish to use, what kind of actors do
they want to cast, the fashions styles of the actor, and locations.
Everything that is part of the director's vision should be included in
the treatment.

The Format of a Director's Treatment

There is no set format for a director's treatment other than the
director should make it the best it can be so he can get the job. Some
treatments are a couple of typed pages, while others include photos.
Some treatments are even power point presentations with visual and audio
references. Anything goes as long as it leads to getting the job.

Write for Yourself

Even if you're the producer and director, it's a good idea to write a
treatment as a way of developing the idea in your head. The more you
think and prepare, then the more successful you will be. Write a
treatment for yourself and treat it as if you're writing it for someone
else. You won't regret it.